As the Golden State Warriors largely have sat stagnant in free agency, their outsized dependency on their roster as it currently stands has grown every day.

With an aging core, the Warriors will depend heavily upon their young players, such as Brandin Podziemski, to take on larger roles next season, and, according to The Ringer’s Rob Mahoney, this could be a major cause for concern.

On the most recent episode of The Zach Lowe Show, Mahoney said that “[Podziemski], by role, probably could do more than any other player on the Warriors roster… The problem is that, when he does do more, he tends to drive Steve Kerr insane.”

While Podziemski has been a bright spot from the perspective of Golden State’s player development over his first two seasons, Mahoney’s point echoes loudly as the organization prepares to hand Podziemski a role that he perhaps is not ready for.

Brandin Podziemski needs to become more comfortable for the Warriors to succeed

After a rookie season in which he averaged 9.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists and received peripheral Rookie of the Year consideration, the Warriors had high hopes for Podziemski heading into his second season.

However, he failed to seize the starting shooting guard role that they envisioned for him with dominance, struggling to maintain his confidence in his ball-handling and shot selection for large stretches of games.

After struggling early in the season, a mid-season return from an 11-game absence due to injury helped Podziemski return to form for a short stretch, as he averaged 14.9 points through his final 34 games of the season.

Yet, in the playoffs, Podziemski’s infuriating struggles returned. He scored inconsistently, posting single digits in half of Golden State’s postseason matchups and showing a glaring lack of aggression on offense.

Yet, with Stephen Curry out with a hamstring strain in the second round and Jimmy Butler playing with a hip injury, head coach Steve Kerr had no choice but to lean on Podziemski. Across 12 playoff games, Podziemski averaged 32.1 minutes.

When tasked with a larger role or more minutes, Podziemski has an infuriating tendency to decline opportunities to drive to the rim or pass up on shots, something that the team cannot afford if Curry or Butler were to miss time in the regular season.

Moreover, it remains to be seen whether Golden State will be able to pick up a guard in free agency to provide insurance against the inconsistencies of Podziemski and Buddy Hield, making Podziemski’s role even more risky for the organization.

Can Podziemski handle a larger, more ball-centric role? Certain parts of his pedigree suggest he can. However, the times he has been outmatched should be plenty of cause for concern for Warriors fans as the offseason drags on.